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NFL Picks

NFL Picks: Week 4 Power Rankings & Super Bowl 50 Futures Updates

Here’s this week updated rankings with a couple of Week 4 NFL picks & a Super Bowl 50 Future bet in order to help you get ahead of the competition.

It’s officially Fall now, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer and there is football on your TV five days a week. And after another full week of play in the NFL—Week 3—there are three teams off to perfect ATS records and three others who have yet to win their backers a penny. The Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos are the four teams off to 3-0 ATS starts, while the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts are all off to disappointing 0-3 ATS starts and one have one SU win between them all—the Colts come-from-behind win over the Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis where fireworks did not delay the start of the game by setting Turf on fire. That happened in St. Louis, at the Edward Jones Dome where the Pittsburgh Steelers topped the St. Louis Rams, but lost starting QB Ben Roethlisberger to a Left Knee injury after a hit by Rams S Mark Barron and had to go to backup and recent-signee Michael Vick. So we had the McCown brothers, Luke (Saints) and Josh (Browns), Brandon Weeden (Cowboys), Jimmy Clausen (Bears) and Vick (Steelers) all starting or already in at QB and filling in for starters on their respective teams. And none of us have even purchased our Halloween candy yet. Or turned our calendars to October. The Quickening is really quick. As far as players who really stood out for the three 3-0 ATS sides, future Hall of Famer and Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald (9 TDs, 134 yards, 2 TDs), Falcons RB Devonta Freeman (30 rushes, 141 yards, 3 TDs) and WR extraordinaire Julio Jones (12 receptions, 164 yards, 2 TDs, 13.7 ypc, 20 Targets) and Bengals WR AJ Green (10 receptions, 227 yards, 2 TDs, 22.7 ypc). And just a thought: It’s early, but isn’t it about time we all starting giving Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton (20/32, 372 yards, 3 TDs, 1 rushing TD) some Love? Judging a human by their hair color is like judging a car’s engine by its’ paint color. Anyway, here’s the fresh rankings with individual Super Bowl odds from the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook here in Sin City heading into play this weekend.

1. New England Patriots (3-0 SU, 2-0-1 ATS; Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook Odds: 5/1)
Why? Hello. The Patriots are smashing things now and scored 51 points on Sunday in a
Jacksonville at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, easily covering the big Point Spread as Head Coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady again showed this is a good team to just bet blindly at Home (7-2-1 ATS L10) are even though you’re sick of hearing about it, never forget how much the Deflategate thing angered the defending Super Bowl champs and how much that focused Anger translates to points on the football field. RB LeGarrette Blount (18 rushes, 78 yards, 3 TDs) showed he can give the Patriots a decent running game and QB Brady (33/42, 358 yards, 2 TDs) was his usual self in yet another game many speculated the New England signal caller would be suspended in after the initial news of his 4-game Suspension. If you have intentions of betting on the Patriots to repeat as NFL champions this year, better do it quick as come October, finding NFL odds on the SB of 4/1 and higher will probably be difficult. Last Week: #1

2. Green Bay Packers (2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS; 3/1 to win Super Bowl)
Why? Green Bay looked pretty decent and helped its chances of earning Home-field advantage in the NFL Playoffs with last Sunday night’s (Week 2) 27-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field. The Cheeseheads are in a very potentially purple patch in their schedule with the Chiefs on Monday Night, at the San Francisco 49ers (1-2) this Week 4; hosting the St. Louis Rams (Week 5) and the San Diego Chargers (Week 6) followed by an Open Date (Bye Week). Getting to the NFC Championship Game again without the services of WR Jordy Nelson and with the emergence in the NFC of the NFC South’s Atlanta Falcons (3-0) and Carolina Panthers (3-0), but QB Aaron Rodgers (28-19 ATS off BTB Wins) and the Packers stay put in the #2 spot here. WR James Jones has filled in very nicely for Nelson. We’ll see how the Packers perform tonight against Kansas City and a loss would probably drop them a just one spot under the Seattle Seahawks. Last Week: #2

3. Seattle Seahawks (1-2 SU, 1-2 ATS; 8/1 to win Super Bowl)
Why? SS Kam Chancellor ended his Holdout and the defending NFC champions finally returned home to the Pacific Northwest and finally got to play their Home opener on Sunday and they did not disappoint, shutting out the Chicago Bears, 26-0 as QB Russell Wilson (20/23, 235 yards, TD, 101.4 QBR), RB Thomas Rawls (16 rushes, 104 yards) and new TE Jimmy Graham (7 receptions, 83 yards, TD, 11.9 ypc). This week? The Seahawks host the Detroit Lions at CenturyLink Field (seven days from now) on Monday Night Football (Seahawks -9½, Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook). The Seahawks are 4-1 ATS the L5 at Home in Seattle against the Lions and after pounding Detroit’s NFC North division rival, the Bears, look for LB Bobby Wagner and the Seattle D to try to register a second straight shutout and move to 2-2. Note: Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch left the game with an a Hamstring injury but after the game, Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll (55-36-2 ATS) didn’t seem to be too worried about it and the performance by RB Rawls (statistically) was an eye-opener. Last Week: #3

4. Denver Broncos (3-0 SU, 3-0 ATS; 9/1 to win Super Bowl)
Why? The “Peyton Manning (102-62-5 ATS off Win) is done” narrative died on the vine when the 39-year-old Broncos QB found his touch and some of his Mojo again in Denver’s 24-12 win over the Lions at Ford Field in Motown on Sunday Night Football, as the prolific WR tandem of Demaryius Thomas (9 receptions, 92 yards, TD) and Emmanuel Sanders (6 receptions, 87 yards) both had big nights. With this killer and athletic Defense (49 Points Allowed), Denver, as always, belongs in the NFL’s Elite Five, and expect them to stay here and possibly lock horns with the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game again. Next up, the Broncos host Minnesota—Denver is 1-0 at Home this year, and was 8-0 last season at Sports Authority Field in Denver—in Week 4 action on Sunday (Broncos -4½, Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook), then the Broncos are at the Oakland Raiders (Broncos 6-0-1 ATS L7) in Week 5 (Broncos 6-0-1 ATS L7), at Cleveland against the lowly Browns (ranked #32 this week) in Week 6 (Broncos 5-1 ATS L6) and the Bye Week (Open Date). So, Old Boy Peyton and Denver should be an unblemished 6-0 heading into Week 8 (vs. Packers in Denver; NFL Games of the Year Odds: Broncos -2½, Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook) and again fighting the Patriots for the Homefield Advantage in the AFC this Regular Season. Some things never change. Last Week: #4

5. Cincinnati Bengals (3-0 SU, 3-0 ATS; 25/1 to win Super Bowl)
Why? The Bengals showed they deserved the #5 spot we gave them last week, with an impressive 28-24 victory over their AFC North division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens (0-3 SU) in Baltimore on Sunday as QB Andy Dalton went 20/32 for 383 yards and 3 TDs, utilizing his underrated WR duo of AJ Green (10 receptions, 227 yards, 2 TDs) and Marvin Jones (5 receptions, 94 yards, 18.8 ypc) in a massive win. But the next three weeks could be challenging for 13-year Head Coach Marvin Lewis (97-95-9 ATS) and Cincinnati with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday (Bengals -3, Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook) in Week 4, the Seattle Seahawks paying a visit in Week 5, and then a trip to Buffalo in Week 6. So, the month of October should reveal if this Cincinnati team is for real and has a shot at making it to Phoenix in February. And, at 16/1 (William Hill) to win Super Bowl 50, taking a shot on the Bengals in the Futures Market seems worth it if you can find it now, although Cincinnati is a smaller market city which has zero NFL championships, no NBA or NHL franchises, and, besides the Bengals, only MLB’s Cincinnati Reds to go out and try to win The Queen City a title. Last Week: #5